Paying has become an almost invisible gesture. You approach the card of the reader, the watch or the phone, and the transaction takes place in one second, without code or ticket. This fluidity has a downside, we lose the notion of spending and the money goes faster. It is on this observation that prepaid cards thrive, these cards that are topped up in advance and which stop working once the balance is exhausted, like old telephone top-ups. Long confined to banking prohibitions and occasional uses, they now appeal to informed users.
Philip Aïm, co-founder of PCS (Créacard group), launched his offer in 2010, in response to the three million banking bans in France at the time. “The problem is that payment has become an automatic gesture, we see the money leaving more and more quickly and we no longer know how much we have spent.he explains. His promise, to divide his money into envelopes, a card for online subscriptions, another for travel, a third for children. It remains to be seen whether this tool compares with a neobank like Revolut, N26 or Lydia.
Prepaid card and neobank, two opposing economic logics
The difference first comes down to status. A prepaid card is not a bankbut a service of electronic moneydistributed by an electronic money establishment agent. Its scope is deliberately narrow, the balance of an account cannot exceed 10,000 euros, where a neobankbacked by a broader license, authorizes higher amounts and offers overdraft, credit or interest-bearing savings.
This border draws two income models. The neobank earns its money from the banking services that it adds layer after layer, from credit to investments. The model has proven itself. In 2025, Revolut generated two billion euros in pre-tax profits, its fifth consecutive year of profitability, and boasts seven million customers in France. The prepaid card relies on a simple subscription. At PCS, the offer is billed at 3.50 euros per month, transfers and direct debits included.
The recurring criticism made of prepaid cards is the fees. “We can have a lot of costs, but not hidden costs, all our costs are displayed on the packaging”replies Philip Aïm, who assumes a price list exposed without an asterisk. ATM withdrawal fees do exist, because they correspond to the costs charged by banking networks to a non-bank player. On the other hand, the absence of margin on exchange fees abroad, for example, constitutes a real argument against neobanks whose displayed freeness sometimes hides commissions on a case by case basis.
Security and anonymity, what the law really says about prepaid cards
The strongest selling point has become security. By segregating a small amount on a dedicated card, the user limits exposure in the event of a hack, without affecting their main account. “At worst, there will be this money at risk, but the account can be blocked in real time and it is not linked to the main account.explains Philip Aïm. A precautionary logic that responds to the continued increase in payment fraud.
The label of tool for banditry, long attached to these cards, no longer corresponds to regulatory reality. L’anonymity was almost eliminated. A card used without identity verification can only store 150 euros and is only used in stores on a closed network. Beyond that, full authentication becomes mandatory, with identity check, domicile verification and questions about the origin of funds, exactly like opening a traditional account.
The ceilings confirm this locking. Reloading in species is limited to 1,000 euros over 30 rolling days, for an average reload observed around 160 euros, and the total capacity of a physical medium does not exceed 10,000 euros. The verdict is therefore nuanced. The prepaid card is neither a scam nor a universal substitute for the bank, but a tool for compartmentalization and budget control, relevant for those who want to secure their online payments or supervise a teenager’s pocket money, provided they accept the ceilings and fees displayed.
The regulatory ceilings cited relate to the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and are subject to change. A prepaid card does not guarantee the absence of fees and its use is subject to legal limits.
